WORLD OF CHILDREN HONOREES COVID-19 EFFORTS
The most vulnerable children are the highest risk during this pandemic as they face huge food insecurities, isolation and potential abuse, lack of necessary hygiene and sanitation supplies, as well as very limited medical supplies and services.
With the Covid-19 impacting our current Honorees in all different ways, our Board voted early last month to allow each Honoree an advance on the funds due to them to aid in the current global crisis.
Many of our World of Children Honorees across the globe have already put forth great efforts to fight the spread of COVID-19 as well as ensuring the urgent and essential needs are met by providing children with adequate food and medical supplies. These efforts continue to help families who are suffering and are greatly impacted by the pandemic in their communities.
Click the organization name to read their heroic efforts to fight:
Donate to our COVID-19 Challenge GrantMead Welles
A Leg to Stand On
Our 2013 Health Award Honoree, Mead Welles, and his foundation A Leg to Stand On, have been raising money throughout COVID-19 to assure that their CoolKids have the PPE that is neccesary while being fit for essential mobility devices. By safely continuing their work, they've provided vulnerable children with free prosthetic limbs, orthotic devices and fitted wheelchairs during this pandemic.
Anywar Ricky Richards
Friends of Orphans
2008 Humanitarian Award has identified and registered 1,000 children on the verge of starvation. Many children are extra vulnerable as they are orphaned, disabled, or abandoned by their caregivers and left to care for younger siblings. Ricky Richards is providing food and psychological care to these war affected children who are starving as a result of the lockdown.
Nicholas Lowinger
Gotta Have Soles
2015 Youth Award Honoree Nicholas Lowinger from Rhode Island is providing new shoes, face masks, and hand sanitizer to hundreds of children in shelters.
Winnifred Selby
Educational Empowerment Initiative
2015 Youth Award Winnie’s Women World Initiative in Ghana has reported that single mothers living in the slums are experiencing extreme hardships as they try and make ends meet. Every day is a struggle and several bablies have died due to malnutrition. Winnie is providing emergency medical care to babies whose mothers cannot afford as well as providing urgently needed food to 2500 women living in the slums.
Catalina Escobar
Juanfe Fundación
Our 2015 Humanitarian Honoree, Catalina Escobar, from @fundacionjuanfe is ensuring all maternal health, educational needs , and food insecurities are met for the hundreds of teenage mothers in her program. Juanfe is providing weekly grocery deliveries, access to internet for continuing education & virtual job skill training, health needs and mentoring.
Arwa Damon
INARA
Our 2017 Crisis Award Honoree, Arwa Damon, from INARA.org has delivered essential food and hygiene kits to over 1,250 Syrian refugee families in Lebanon and Turkey. These kits have been a lifeline to families during this time of crisis. It's also crucial to INARA that they are able to provide our children with the treatment they need and deserve once the coronavirus lockdowns end. We are proud of all of our past and present honorees for their amazing work during this pandemic.
Adi Roche
Chernobyl Children
2015 Hero Award & 2010 Health Award Honoree, Adi Roche, from Chernobyl Children has been fighting COVID-19 within their own organization and their community directly. CCI is working in tandem with UNICEF Belarus to provide PPE, sanitizing agents, soaps and medicines for several institutions throughout Belarus. They also have 20 'frontline' personnel working to provide children with life-limiting illness to remain at home by providing them with the therapies/medicines they need. In addition, they have implemented a Psychosocial Support Program to tackle the anticipated onslaught of PTSD and stress related illnesses in the future.
Sandy Kemper
Smiles Forever
2018 Health Award Honoree, Sandy Kemper, from Smiles Forever has fought to keep her essential business open during the mandated quarantine in Bolivia. Their preventative-care program has greatly reduced conditions such as life-threatening abscesses, painful cavities, and malnutrition. By providing these services to children during this pandemic, they have remained heroes in the eyes of those in need during COVID-19.
Chaim Peri
Impact Israel
2014 Hero Award & 1998 Humanitarian Award Honoree, Chaim Peri, was dedicated to keeping a "home away from home" available to children who have "aged out" of the orphanage system in Israel during COVID-19. They offered Zoom programming for children, provided care packages of activities for youth to do while isolated at home, and each student received two packages, one to keep, and one to pass on to someone who needs it. Now with their operation slowly opening back up - social work and normal activities will presume with the proper safety precautions.
Anta Mbow
Empire des Enfants
2018 Protection Award Honoree, Anta Mbow's organization has been dealing directly with Covid-19, due to Senegal's state of emergency and a curfew that has caused additional stress on the street children who struggle under normal circumstances. They have used their resources to educate children about the disease, and convince them to join their safe reception centers in the area. The current program has 50 boys, ages between 6 to 15 years old. Offering organized sports, fun, artistic activities to keep them busy while waiting for things to evolve positively. In the end they work on their life plan and reintegrate them into their respective families.
Brisa de Angulo
A Breeze of Hope
2019 Protection Award Honoree is providing amazing resources to families during COVID-19. Psychologists and social workers are providing web-based therapeutic support to children and families, as well as access to food and essential resources. They are operating three 24/7 hotlines for the general public that provide legal and psychological support. Most importantly, they are coordinating with special forces police to protect children who are suffering sexual violence during lockdown.
WORLD OF CHILDREN BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CLICK TO SEE HOW OUR WORLD OF CHILDREN BOARD MEMBERS ARE AIDING IN THE FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19